Thursday, 31 May 2012

Labour leader Ed Miliband writes about his family heritage in a special edition of the New Statesman on the British Jewish experience. A far cry from a decade ago when the magazine was accused of anti-Semitism over an investigative article headlined ‘A Kosher Conspiracy?’.

Why the change of heart? Surely not because its senior political writer, Mehdi Hasan – a vociferous critic of Israel – has left to join America’s Huffington Post online news organisation.

An Ephraim Hardcastle item last week suggested that the New Statesman appeared to have boosted its coverage of Jewish affairs following the departure of senior political writer Mehdi Hasan. Mr Hasan informs us that in fact he has not yet left and that the recent British Jewish edition was his idea.

For instance the other month a US website broke the news of Sienna
Miller’s pregnancy which was swiftly followed by all our American rivals
but not by us because we don’t report pregnancies unless confirmed by the subject.

At the time, this blog highlighted recent articles about Kate Middleton and Drew Barrymore which proved that MailOnline does sometimes suggest that someone is pregnant before they have confirmed it.

Monday, 28 May 2012

McGuire, who went to university at 16, took 32 Nurofen Plus tablets a day to feed his secret habit. But after losing his job he struggled to pay for his addiction.

The 31-year-old's scheme saw him fill empty packets with the Seroquel he was being prescribed for schizophrenia.

The court heard how McGuire then tried to buy Nurofen Plus at pharmacies using a card he knew would be declined. This created the distraction he needed to discreetly swap his doctored packet for a fresh one and walk away.

Compare that explanation to the Mail's front page story on 26 August 2011, written by Jenny Hope and Colin Fernandez:

Dangerous anti-psychotic drugs may have been deliberately placed in thousands of packets of Nurofen Plus by animal rights activists, it emerged last night...

It is suspected militant activists carried out the sabotage operation with the intention of damaging Nurofen Plus's makers, Reckitt Benckiser. The company may have been targeted because it tests its products on animals.

But it seems that the 'seaweed pill' - the 'amazing tablet' than can 'fight other diseases' - doesn't actually exist in tablet form.

Willey goes on to say:

Various laboratory tests were carried out and the research team discovered that the seaweed – Leptolyngbya crosbyana – generates natural products known as honaucins with potent anti-inflammation and bacteria-controlling properties.

She then quotes one of the researchers, who points out:

"It’s a long road to go from this early-stage discovery to application in the clinic but it’s the only road if we want new and more efficacious medicines...In different arenas these compounds could be helpful, such as treating chronic inflammatory conditions for which we currently don’t have really good medicines."

Willey's article is a bit of churnalism that originated from a press release from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

The press release said:

Scientists identified the “nuisance” organism in 2008 on the reefs directly adjacent to the National Park Pu‘uhonua o H’onaunau off the Kona coast of Hawaii. The cyanobacterium is believed to be native to Hawaii and is usually inconspicuous.

Willey 'changed' this to:

Scientists first identified the “nuisance” organism in 2008 threatening the reefs next to a national park off the Kona coast of Hawaii. The cyanobacterium is believed to be native to the islands and is usually inconspicuous.

And this bit from the original:

Choi, Gerwick and their colleagues conducted various laboratory experiments and discovered that the seaweed (the cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya crossbyana) generates natural products known as honaucins with potent anti-inflammation and bacteria-controlling properties.

Became this:

Various laboratory tests were carried out and the research team discovered that the seaweed – Leptolyngbya crosbyana – generates natural products known as honaucins with potent anti-inflammation and bacteria-controlling properties.

Incidentally, the press release does not specifically mention arthritis.

And trying to sell Big Brother (and copies of the paper) on it's sex content isn't exactly a new tactic for the Star either. Housemates will 'strut their naked stuff' or the programme will be 'full of naked romps' or it will be the 'sexiest Big Bro ever'. So for today's paper to claim this is a 'shock plan' is nonsense. It's the same tired old 'plan' that the Star claims is afoot every year.

Helpfully, MailOnline's JJ Anisiobi has joined the ad campaign, copying-and-pasting the Star's article into a 'story' which claims the series is already 'courting controversy'.

Gary Lineker has asked us to point out that his remarks about England as reported in Saturday’s Daily Star were meant as a light-hearted jocular reference to how overexcited we get at our prospects before a big football tournament and do not reflect his feelings about the current England squad.

NICE has never taken 9 years to make a recommendation to the NHS on the use of a new drug (New cancer drugs held up by the NHS for nine years, 16 May).

The gap between a new drug becoming available to prescribe and NICE guidance being published is around 5 months. The study, on which your article was based, included drugs that were licensed for use, in some cases, more than 5 years before NICE was established. Its conclusions are both misleading and unhelpful for those who rely on our advice.

Making sure that we provide advice on the best use of all important new drugs quickly remains our priority and we have the resources and the commitment to do it.

Monday, 14 May 2012

Following our article of 1 May 2012 in which it was reported that Lyn Paul of the New Seekers was a “conquest” of Tony Blackburn, Ms Paul has contacted us to say that she merely shared a dinner date with Tony Blackburn and neither slept with him nor had a relationship with him. We are happy to make this clear and apologise to Ms Paul for any upset caused.

The Daily Express not only reflects the beliefs of middle Britain’s readers...but also entertains them, saves money on their shopping bills AND offers them the chance of a dream lottery win.

And, as the latest sales figures illustrate, that’s why MORE people are turning to the Daily Express.

Last month, another 10,115 people joined our newspaper’s readership.

We welcome them as warmly as we appreciate our existing loyal buyers. Like them, our new readers today have the opportunity to win up to £100,000 on the Health Lottery thanks to our offer of a free £1 ticket.

They will also enjoy all the other benefits that being a Daily Express reader brings, such as regular fantastic free offers that help cut the cost of the weekly shopping bill.

It means being part of the only national newspaper with the courage of its convictions to come out and say what a majority of people in this country believe: that it’s time for Britain to leave the EU.

And it means being entertained and informed six days every week by the fullest news coverage, most compelling features and women’s pages and up-to-the-minute sports reports.

Then there’s our unparalleled team of top columnists – from Richard and Judy to Ann Widdecombe, and Frederick Forsyth to Vanessa Feltz.

Put together they add up to an unbeatable bargain.

The Daily Express: value for money and representing your values too.

And they are right to say that from March to April, sales of the Express did increase by just over 10,000 per day.

What the Express 'forgot' to mention today was that from February to March, sales fell by just over 19,000 per day.

The current issue of Private Eye (No. 1313) tells the story of the Sun on Sunday's 'Fabulous' hairdryers:

To tempt in new readers, last Sunday it offered readers a free pink travel hairdryer "worth £15" in an offer heavily trailed not just in the Sun, but also sister paper the Times.

The very same pink travel hairdryers, in fact, which were heavily trailed to be given away with the 10 July edition of the News of the World last year - until that turned out to be the last edition ever, and the offer had to be abandoned...

They have evidently been sitting in a warehouse somewhere ever since...fortunately...they featured the branding of the colour supplement 'Fabulous', which now accompanies the Sun on Sundays.

Thursday, 10 May 2012

For instance the other month a US website broke the news of Sienna Miller’s pregnancy which was swiftly followed by all our American rivals but not by us because we don’t report pregnancies unless confirmed by the subject.

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Martin Clarke, the publisher of MailOnline, gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry today. He was asked by David Barr about the monitoring of Twitter for stories:

A. We monitor the Twittersphere and quite often Twitter will alert you to a story that you weren't otherwise aware of. Sometimes the tweet will be the story. If somebody tweets a comment, then obviously very often we will -- the fact that somebody's tweeted that comment is the story. Obviously you have to be careful that it is genuinely the tweet from the person you think it is, and there have in the past been rogue tweets with fake accounts that have fooled other people on the Internet, but Twitter now takes steps to make sure that celebrity accounts are who they say they are, they verify it, so you know if an account is the person it claims to be. Quite often the tweet will be the story.

Q. Can I have some idea of the level of checking that your organisation goes to before publishing a tweet-based story? Will you contact the maker?

A. It depends. If it was a celebrity who tweeted a picture of themselves and a comment attached and that is -- then that is the story, and providing we know from previous experience that that tweet account is genuine, then the story is checked. That's it.

If the tweet was alleging something contentious, then obviously you would have to check it out in the normal way to normal journalistic standards. It depends.

Q. What steps do you take to ensure that tweets really are from who they say they are?

A. Unless they're verified accounts, then we treat them with huge suspicion.

Interesting, then, that Clarke, in saying 'there have in the past been rogue tweets with fake accounts that have fooled other people on the Internet', tries to pretend these things happened 'in the past' and only to 'others'.

A hugely popular news story about a jilted dentist accused of pulling out all her ex-boyfriend's teeth has unraveled as a hoax.

Tennant contacted the police in Wroclaw, Poland who revealed:

"Lower Silesia Police Department has not been notified about such an event and is not investigating such a case," Pawel Petrykowski of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wroclaw said in an email that was translated into English.

What about an investigation by the professional body?

A legal adviser for Poland’s Chamber of Physicians and Dentists, which handles disciplinary matters, said the organization is not investigating and has never investigated any such case, and added that there is no dental practitioner named Anna Maćkowiak listed in Poland’s central register of dentists.

"No information about this kind of misconduct has been provided to the Supreme Chamber," the legal advisor, Marek Szewczyński, said in an email. "The Supreme Chamber is also not aware of any actions of this kind being taken by the Regional Chamber of Physicians and Dentists in Wroclaw, which would be the competent authority in case of a possible professional misconduct committed by a dental practitioner from Wroclaw."

The Polish media largely ignored the story although:

Polish television news channel TVN4 published an article mocking foreign media's coverage of the story, which it speculates began as a prank. "It appears that the article, written as a joke, began life on the Internet and has little to do with any truth," the translated article reads.

All the news reports about Maćkowiak published on news websites in the U.S. and elsewhere, such as Australia’s Herald Sun or New Zealand Herald, can be traced back to an article published in the online edition of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.

But Simon Tomlinson, whose byline appears on the MailOnline article:

...said he does not know where the story came from and distanced himself from it when questioned about its origins.

"I've drawn a bit of a blank," he said in an email. "The (Daily) Mail Foreign Service, which did the piece for the paper, is really just an umbrella term for copy put together from agencies. My news desk isn’t sure where exactly it came from."

Algerian man wrongly accused of providing French hideout for British Al Qaeda terrorists

Metro and other publishers yesterday told the High Court they had agreed to pay substantial damages to an Algerian man for wrongly reporting that he offered a safe house in France to British Al Qaeda terrorists.

Associated Newspapers, the publisher of MailOnline and Metro, The Telegraph Media Group, MGN, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, and the publisher of the Daily Express apologised in the High Court to Farid Boukemiche, 40.

Some reports said he was on trial in France in January 2011 for associating with a known terrorist organisation and for financing terrorism.

Others alleged he was a ‘gangster’ accused of carrying out robberies or had admitted to robbery.

The High Court heard the articles had been withdrawn from the newspapers’ websites, that they had accepted that the allegations were untrue and they had apologised to Mr Boukemiche.

In court yesterday we and other newspapers apologised to Farid Boukemiche. In an article provided to us by a freelance journalist which was published on 4 January 2011 we wrongly said that he was on trial in France accused of funding terrorism. Although he had been arrested in France in 2005 he was not on trial as all charges against him had been withdrawn in 2008. We further accepted that he was not a gangster nor that he had offered a "safe house" in France to British terrorists. We have paid him damages and costs.

Mr Farid Boukemiche yesterday accepted an apology and damages over reports in The Telegraph (Jan 3 and 4 2011) and other newspapers.

The court was told that reporting was based on information supplied by a freelance journalist and incorrectly suggested that Mr Boukemiche was on trial in France in January 2011 for associating with a known terrorist organisation; for financing terrorism; offering a “safe house” in France to British terrorists from Al Qaeda networks and that he was a “gangster” who was accused of carrying out robberies (including one allegation of armed robbery) and/or had admitted to robbery.

Mr Jonathen Scherbel-Ball, representing the newspapers, told the court that the publications acknowledged that the information was untrue and apologised for the distress caused.

Metro and other publishers yesterday told the High Court they had agreed to pay substantial damages to an Algerian man for wrongly reporting that he offered a safe house in France to British Al Qaeda terrorists.

Associated Newspapers, the publisher of MailOnline and Metro, The Telegraph Media Group, MGN, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, and the publisher of the Daily Express apologised in the High Court to Farid Boukemiche, 40.

Some reports said he was on trial in France in January 2011 for associating with a known terrorist organisation and for financing terrorism.

Others alleged he was a ‘gangster’ accused of carrying out robberies or had admitted to robbery.

The court heard the articles had been withdrawn from the newspapers’ websites, that they had accepted that the allegations were untrue and they had apologised to Mr Boukemiche.

Senior Eurocrats are secretly plotting to create a super-powerful EU president to realise their dream of abolishing Britain, we can reveal.

A covert group of EU foreign ministers has drawn up plans for merging the jobs currently done by Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.

Hall doesn't really explain how this merger - if it happens - would actually lead to Britain being 'scrapped'. He doesn't name the 'senior Eurocrats' who want to 'abolish Britain'. Precise details of this 'plot' are hard to find within the article.

But it does mention that this new post will be:

a modern-day equivalent of the European emperor envisaged by Napoleon Bonaparte or a return to the Holy Roman Empire of Charlemagne that dominated Europe in the Dark Ages.

The article includes quotes from three anti-EU politicians, but nothing from any official EU spokesperson. Reader comments on the Express website include: 'Hitler would be proud', 'The rise of the anti-Christ and few recognize it' and 'Quite simply this is an act of war'.

There's also one from the European Commission Representative in London, who says:

Quite simply, this article is nonsense.

As other posters point out, the EU has no power or desire to "scrap Britain"...or Germany, or France, or Lithuania. Merging the Barroso and Van Rompuy posts would require UK agreement. And it is total fantasy to leap from speculation on this to ludicrous claims about scrapping nation states. EU treaties are decided by national leaders, with each having a veto, and EU law is decided by national Ministers and MEPs, not by mythical bogeyman Brussels bureaucrats.